Skill Encounter
Skill encounters are generally non combative aspects of the game that need to be overcome to continue the story. In the stories of old these encounters included surviving the roaring storm in a rickety ship, convincing the guard that you actually are one of the good guys, or disarming the trap so that you can get to treasure that lies within. 'Dice Check' In order to make a dice check a player rolls a D12 and adds the appropriate skill to the results of that roll. If the results of that roll beat the Dice Check, shown above, then they have beaten the Dice Check. 'Building Skill Encounters' Skill encounters are very easy to set up in comparison to combat encounters. All you have to do is determine how difficult you want to make it and add 1 to the Dice Check for every three levels of the players (3,6,9). The GP reward can be grouped with other rewards throughout the adventure as a lump sum amount of gold or as a greater item. However, make sure that there is a player that can actually make the check. Below are examples of encounters for the players to interact with. To the right are the gp rewards that skill checks give according to the difficulty. Most skill encounters like tracking down the orc platoon are not simple one roll success/fail instances. The Game Master can have it set up where there needs to be 3 successful DC checks before 5 fails with a real in-game penalty for each fail. For example when tracking down the orc platoon, a DC 6 Cunning Check since they are not that hard to track, the ranger in the group rolled the following Cunning Checks 12, 8, 5, and 7. This shows that he did successfully hunt them down, however since he failed once the orc platoon ate 1 of the hostages. Below are the different Skill challenges and how to set them up on your campaign. NPC Interaction When players interact with non-player characters (NPC) there is often opportunity for a challenge. Any time a player is trying to lie their way out of trouble, force a character to give them vital information, or are trying to rob them of something without their knowing then it is a perfect opportunity for a Skill Encounter. The three most common skills used in Skill challenges with NPCs are Stealth and Cunning when trying to take something without the NPC's knowledge, or Social when trying to lie, bluff, intimidate, or persuade. Weather/Tracking When players are trying to survive the harsh environment of the desert, or track down the thief in the forests there is an opportunity for a skill challenge. There may even be times where a players brute force or slippery demeanor can get them out of trouble such as clinging on the ship's mast as the wall of water envelops the ship. The most common skill used for these skill challenges is Cunning, however if it is described properly Athletics could be used as well in some cases. Race Any time there is a race to beat a challenger to a destination there is opportunity for a skill challenge. Some of these challenges are not simple point A to point B sprints and in these cases a well informed player may know a short cut that would aid them in beating the opposing forces to their destination. The most common skills used for these skill challenges are Athletics and Knowledge. Traps Any time the players interact with a trap that they must find, disarm, avoid, or outwit is an opportunity for a skill challenge. Now there are as many traps as there are Game Master's to create them. Some traps cannot be disarmed and must be avoided (Think giant rolling rocks), Some traps don't damage at all until your a dead duck (sealing off the room and filling it with water), others may require the players to solve a puzzle before letting them pass. However even with all of the possibilities is is easy to set up and implement your trap. 1. What does it do. If it deals damage, it deals a D12 of damage that ignores armor each round to all targets that is setting off it's trigger. Apply Utility Powers at your discretion. Also, if it is a 1 time trap it should do at least 3D12 damage if not more. 2. Why is it going off. Is it triggered when they go through the passage, when they try to open the door, they are within a given space. 3. Is it visibly a trap or is it a surprise. If it is a hidden trap have them roll a Perception Check to not simply walk into it. 4. Is the trap avoidable. If it can be avoided have them roll an Athletics Check to avoid it. You may require multiple Athletics Checks depending on the trap. 5. Can the trap be disarmed. If it can be, and the box isn't hidden (perception check), then they can try to disarm it Cunning Check. There may be multiple Cunning Checks depending on the difficulty of the trap. 6. Is it a puzzle. If it is a puzzle then you gave give hints with various Knowledge Checks. The DC for each of these steps can be different.